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Jason Schwartzman plays Mary Poppins songwriter in Saving Mr. Banks

Jason Schwartzman is on the phone from Los Angeles, anxious to talk about playing Richard Sherman, one half of the legendary songwriting siblings behind the 1964 film Mary Poppins, in Disney charmer Saving Mr. Banks.

Between them, the brothers wrote the Mary Poppins songs both adults and kids know by heart, like “A Spoonful of Sugar” and Oscar winner “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”

“That music really is classic, those songs really are incredible and they stay inside you,” said Schwartzman, who grew up watching Mary Poppins, “probably on Betamax,” but can’t recall the first time he saw it.

Saving Mr. Banks is based on the true story of how Walt Disney (played by Tom Hanks) tried everything he could to convince very reluctant author P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson) to allow her beloved book to be made into a movie musical. It opened Dec. 13.

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But first, Schwartzman, 33, wants to share a story about his 29th birthday spent in Toronto in 2009: the day he got his lucky baseball hat at SkyDome while he was here shooting Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

“I turned 29 and was there alone, and I went to the Rogers Centre and bought the best ticket I could to see a Blue Jays game,” recalled Schwartzman, sounding happy at the memory. And he also bought himself his lucky baseball hat.

How is it lucky? “It hasn’t provided me with any luck, but I call it my lucky baseball hat,” Schwartzman replies, not trying to sell the line as a joke but being very funny just the same.

That’s the pleasure of Schwartzman’s smart and often low-key onscreen style, too, with roles in Rushmore, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl and several films with director Wes Anderson, including The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom. They team again on The Grand Budapest Hotel, opening in March 2014.

In Saving Mr. Banks, Schwartzman plays one of the world’s true optimists in Richard Sherman, the upbeat contrast to his often-cynical brother Robert, played by B.J. Novak of Inglourious Basterds and TV’s The Office.

Robert Sherman died in 2012.

Richard Sherman, 85, served as consultant on Saving Mr. Banks and Schwartzman, a musician in his own right, was “freaked out” by meeting Sherman and the responsibility of playing such a songwriting legend. The brothers also wrote the music for The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Disney theme park song “It’s a Small World (After All).”

Schwartzman spent many hours with Sherman over about six weeks, learning about how the brothers laboured in the writing room at Disney — always with Richard at the piano — and how they overcame obstacles while working with the fractious Travers.

Sherman never gave up. “These songs were worked on and worked on and worked on until they were perfected,” Schwartzman said.

He calls Sherman “a monster of songwriting” and likens the songwriter’s natural enthusiasm to another character brought to the screen by Disney: Tigger.

“I remember when we were doing this, (I thought) I don’t have this kind of level of a burning, positive, optimistic light in me, do I?”

Sherman arranged for Schwartzman to listen to recordings made in the Disney rehearsal studio as the brothers crafted the songs, so he could make sure his work onscreen would match theirs. A drummer, Schwartzman also took piano lessons to appear convincing at the keyboard and had his piano teacher transcribe the Sherman sessions so he could match what was being played as closely as possible.

“I felt it was good to be responsible to him,” said Schwartzman. “I felt if Tom Hanks was going to play Walt Disney, he was going to spend the time to learn the accent; I’ve got to spend the time learning versions of the music as it was played.”

Hearing the sessions also gave Schwartzman a rare opportunity to visit Disney history.

“I literally heard the first take. It was amazing and I got the P.L. Travers session while she was in the room,” marvelled Schwartzman, who also sings in the film as the duo tries out the now famous songs on Travers and Disney.

“I want to honour this guy on every level,” added Schwartzman, admitting he was very nervous after landing the part.

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